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TRICHOGRAPHIA MAMMALIUM; 



OB 



DESCRIPTIONS AND DRAWINGS 



OF THE 



HAIRS OF THE MAMMALIA, 



MADE WITH THE AID OE THE MICROSCOPE. 



BY 



PETEK A.^BROWNE, LL. D. 



MONTROVILLE W. DICKESON, M. D. 



"Le Microscope, ce puissant moyen d investigation, sans le secours duquel on ne peut plus parler d'un 
corps quelconque, sans eprouver une juste timidite." Mandl. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. H. JONES, PRINTER, NO. 34 CARTER'S ALLEY 

1848. 



THE 



TEGUMENTAL APPENDAGES OF THE MAMMALIA. 



G 



Hairs have generally been considered as the characteristic 
covering of the Mammalia, as feathers are of Birds, and scales are 
of Fishes and Reptiles ; so much so, that a zoologist of some note 
once proposed to call this class "the Piliferes," as contradistin- 
guished from "the Penniferes," and "the Sqnamiferes." But 
there are animals who suckle their young, the greater part of 
whose covering is not hairy ; wherefore, we propose a new classifi- 
cation and nomenclature of the Mammalia, according to the reality 
of their tegumentary appendages. 

GENERAL TABLE OF THE TEGUMENTARY APPENDAGES OF THE 

MAMMALIA. 

1st. A hard mantle; composed of carbonate and phosphate of 
lime deposited in cells of animal matter. 

2d. Compact corneous and imbricated matter; the appendages 
forming, together, a scale-like covering. 

3d. Fibrous corneous protuberances ; the appendages forming 
those horns which are unconnected with the osseous structure or 
skeleton. 

4th. Fibrous and parenchymatous matter ; the appendages are 
spines. 

5th. Membranous and scale-like matter; these appendages are 
found upon prehensile tails. 






d* 



r, DASYPUS. 

6th. Fibrous corneous matter covered with membrane ; these 
appendages are Hairs, which are either 

A. Agglutinated fibres, viz. bristles, or 

B. Non-agglutinated fibres, viz. 

a. Hair proper. 

b. Fur. 

c. Wool. 



FAMILIAR EXAMPLES OF THE FOREGOING CLASSES. 

Hard mantle, — the Armadillo. Scale-like covering, — the 
Pangolin. Horn, — that of the Rhinoceros. Spines, — the Porcupine. 
Scaly tail, — the Possum. Hair, — the Horse. Fur, — the Beaver. 
Wool, — the Sheep. 

But it must by no means be inferred that each kind is confined 
to one of these appendages; on the contrary, it sometimes happens 
that an animal has two, in such equal degrees of profuseness, that 
it is difficult to tell which prevails. 

Corneous matter we distinguish from bony by the absence of 
bone-earth* and from feathery matter, to which it is closely allied, 
but which contains one atom less of oxygen. This (corneous) 
matter is generally divided into three kinds, viz.. compact, fibrous, 
and membranous; to which, (as will be perceived,) we have 
added a fourth, viz., Cellular. The covering of the Pangolin is 
generally called scales; but we purposely exclude that word, as 
it is the name of the characteristic covering of Reptiles and 
Fishes. 

We commence with the Hard Mantle. 

To this category belongs the Armadillo, the Dasypus of 
Linnaeus, which has its entire superior surface covered with this 
mantle. See fig. 1. 

Tatou is the Brazilian name. The Spaniards gave it the name 
of Armadillo, on account of the armor, and the Portuguese call it 
Encouberto, for the same reason. f "Dasypus,"' (from "dasus."' 



* Phosphate of Lime. f" Encouberto," covered, concealed, enveloped, protected. 



DASYPUS. 
Fiff. L. 




hairy, and "pous," foot, which was one of the names of the hare 
among the Greeks,) is much less appropriately applied to this 

animal. 

For convenience of description, the armor of the Armadillo is 
generally divided into four principal portions, — a helmet, or 
covering for the head; — a buckler, to defend the shoulders and 
anterior part of the back : — central bands, varying in number from 
three to thirteen; and a part sometimes called the crupper, which 
hides the posterior part of the back. The tail varies in length, 
shape, and covering; being sometimes short and tubercular, at 
others long, and either skinny, tubercular, or in crustaceous 
rings. The legs are covered with tubercles, and the feet are 
provided with strong claws. Besides whiskers and eyebrows, they 
have hair upon the abdomen, (the skin of which is soft and thin,) 
and hair or hair-like processes upon the back. The brain has the 
odor of musk. 

It is not our province to point out the object that nature had in 
view in placing upon the head and body of the Armadillo this 
formidable armor; and if it were, we would be discouraged by the 
entire failures of those who have endeavored to do so. One writer 
sagely descants upon the providential protection it affords from 
the otherwise destroying effects of swarms of ants, that are found 
in the parts of South America which the Armadillo inhabits, 
seeming to forget that these insects would be most likely to attack 
the abdomen, which is without this protection. Another author, 
with about as much reason, tells us that the armor was designed 
to shield the animal from the scorching effects of a tropical sun; 
as if a being which lived in subterranean excavations required 
such a parasol. 



8 DASYPUS. 

Armadillos have been divided into species according to the 
number of bands; but Griffith justly considers this arrangement 
objectionable, since Azara has shown that the bands vary among 
individuals of the same species.* The teeth are good grounds 
for distinction; and although placed in the Order " Edentata," 
F. Cuvier assures us that the Encouberto has incisive teeth, and 
we know that others have molars. 

Mr. Owen, in his Odontography, p. 320, says that most 
naturalists regret that the great reformer of Zoology should have 
substituted the name Edentata for that of Bruta, applied by 
Linnaeus to the order of mammals which he had characterized by 
the absence of incisives; only two species of which are without 
teeth, while almost all are destitute of incisors. And in a 
subsequent page, speaking of the Chlamydotherium, he says, there 
are eight teeth on each side of the upper, and nine on each side 
of the lower jaw — the three anterior ones of the latter being 
incisors by position. They vary also in the number, size, and 
shape of their claws. 

The three-banded Armadillo Fig. 2. 

possesses the power of rolling 
itself into a ball, the head and tail 
then being adjusted, side by side, 
at a small appropriate aperture, 
to enable the animal to breathe. 
See fig. 2. 

Whether any other species of 
Armadillo possesses this power, 
we do not undertake to determine. 

Nature seems to have provided no means of enclosing the long 
ringed tails within the armor, and their hardness seems sufficient 
to protect them from outward injury. It is true that the pangolin 
with a long tail rolls itself up also, but his tail is more flexible, 
and being flat on the under side, fits exactly to the back of the 
animal when it is in this coiled position. 

The following figure (No. 3) is copied from a daguerreotype of 




* Buffon considered it a sexual difference. 



DASYPUS. 



a skeleton belonging to Prof. Paul Beck Goddard, (who politely 
loaned it to us,) marked, "7-banded Armadillo." 



Fisr. 3. 




DIMENSIONS OF THE SKELETON. 

Length from tip of muzzle to tip of tail, 16 inches; length of head, 3; of neck, 1; of body, 
5 4-10; of tail, 6 6-10; height, 3 5-10; circumference, 6. Spine, cervical vertebrae, 7; dorsal 
and lumbar, 16; os sacrum and coccyx, 9; tail, 20, of which 13 are rings, and 7 vertebral. 
Scapula, length, 1 5-10 inches; breadth, 1. Sternum, length, 1 5-10; os humeri, 1 6-10; 
ulna, 1 6-10; radius, 1 1-10; ossa innominata, 2 2-10; os femoris, 1 7-10; Tibia, 1 2-10; 
Fibula, 1 3-10; os calcis, 7-10. Claws, in front, 4— length, 1 3-10, 1 2-10, 5-10, and 4-10; 
in rear, 5 — length, 1 3-10, 1 2-10, 1, 7-10, and 5-10. Teeth, 7 in each jaw, above and below 
(molars.) 

The covering of the Armadillo must not be confounded with the 
envelope of the Chelonians ; the latter being a corneous enlargement 
of the osseous structure, intimately united with the rest of the 
skeleton;* while the former is entirely tegumentary, and composed 
of carbonate and phosphate of lime deposited in cells of animal 
matter. We placed some pieces of the armor in diluted muriatic 
acid, by which it was made as flexible as a piece of leather, 
although it was before dry and horny. The lime was dissolved 
with effervescence. Upon adding to this solution oxalic acid, we 
had a fine white precipitate. Upon subjecting this precipitate to 
a microscope of high power, it was found to consist of groups of 
crystals of octahedrons, truncated on the corners. 

* Fleming, Phil, of Zool., 269. 




■ 



10 DASYPUS. 

We next (after having ascertained its weight) submitted a 

portion of the buckler to the action of the 
Fir- 4. f- 

a 3 blowpipe; and having consumed the animal 

matter, we found that it had lost half its weight : 

but that it retained its figure, all the lines and 

angles having preserved their original sharpness. 

See fig. 4. A. and B. Having boiled it in 

water, and found that it contained nothing soluble in that liquid. 

we next submitted it to diluted nitric acid, which quickly dissolved 

it entirely. To one portion of the solution we added nitrate of 

silver, and detected phosphorus. To another portion we added 

sulphate of soda, but found no magnesia. To a third we added 

xalic acid, which threw down a white precipitate crystallized, as 

riore mentioned. 

From the above experiments we conclude that the armor of the 
Armadillo is composed of carbonate and phosphate of lime and 
animal matter in equal quantities, by weight. Its bones (according 
to Simon) have 53 per cent, of phosphate of lime to only 6 of 
carbonate.* 

This covering of a mammalia bears a strong analogy to the 
shells of some molluscous animals. And, as regards appearand, 
we were forcibly struck with the microscopic representation of the 
shell Pinna in Carpenter's Elements, figure 46, in p. I vhich 
miorht be mistaken for the buckler of an Armadillo. 

I: is obvious, then, that it is a mistake to suppose (as some have 

done) that this armor is formed of hairs soldered together. \ So far 

as the horny part of the eoveringr is concerned, we are willing to 

admit that they have the same origin; and certain it is. that horn 

and hair have the same ek w viz. Carbon 48, Hydrogen 39, 

Xitrosfen 7. and Oxvgen 17 ; but that the armor is composed of hairy 

fibres, ^grlutinated together, is not confirmed bv anv examination 

have made. 

We must now direct our attention to the plat- 

Almost every phvsiological book we open informs us that organic 



* See Animal Chemistry, p. 598. 

I ii paraissent formes de poil sondes entre eux/* Elem. de Zool. 



DASYPUS. 



11 



Fig. 5. 
l 



matter has always a rounded form ; but the plates of the armor of 
the Armadillo are not generally bounded by convex surfaces, nor 
do they commonly present rounded outlines ; on the contrary, they 
are, for the most part, circumscribed within straight lines and angles; 
forming parallelograms, hexagons, triangles, polygons, and other 
mathematical figures. The plates of the Armadillo form angles, 
ab initio, and become rounded by pressure. 

The Armadillo we are now about to describe is bicolored and 
ring-tailed, the Novemcinctus; but the particular description of 
which will serve as a general one of the genus. It is probably a 
young animal, for two of its molar teeth are not 
entirely cut. All of them are hollow and devoid of 
root, indicating their continual growth. They are 
very hard, and have no enamel. See fig. 5. 

The whole interior of the armor is lined with a membrane, 
which, in the dried state of our specimen, is of a brown color, of 
the thickness of T lo of an inch, and of the specific gravity of 1.824. 
This probably represents the first layer of fascia, or cellular tissue, 
generally found beneath the skin. See fig. 6. 

This membrane appears to be entire, 
but is moulded to the projections and 
depressions of the interior surface of the 
substance next described, to which it 
closely adheres. Near the bands at A. it 
either thickens into, or is closely connected, 
with a layer of muscular fibre of great 
elasticity and toughness. Attached to the 
interior of this membrane are some small dried filaments supposed 
to be nervous. 

Immediately above this membrane 
is found the body of the armor, or 
dermis, if so it may be called. It 
is T V of an inch thick, has as. g. of 
1.80, is negatively electric, and, in 
the dry state of our specimen, hard 

enough to scratch sulphate of lime. Upon examining it on the 
interior face, (fig. 7, A.) it is found to be laid out in regular 



Fig. 6. 




Fig. 7. 





12 DASYPUS. 

or depressed mathematical figures; differing in form and size 
according to the species, and the part of the armor upon which 
it is found. 

The buckler of the one at present under discussion (fig. 7) shows 
depressed, unequal sided hexagons, differing in their greatest 
diameters from T 3 o to f 2 o of an inch. Each hexagon is bounded by 
four longer and two shorter lines ; the angles are various. They 
are of the consistence of horn, and inelastic ; but are partly sepa- 
rated by a white cartilaginous or nbro-cartilaginous substance, of 
the average width of tV of an inch, and they are covered entirely 
with a hard, thin, pearl-white couche,* embossed with figures, 
viz., one in the centre of the hexagon ovoidal and of the greatest 
diameter of y of an inch ; this is set around by twelve smaller com- 
pressed ovoids, two upon each angle of the hexagon. All the small 
ovoids correspond with similar ones which invest the respective 
large ovoids of the neighboring hexagons ; each pair then having 
the appearance of a single figure of double the dimensions; and 
the whole of them, together, forming raised ornaments to the 
buckler. See fig. 7, B. 

It was one of these hexagons that we submitted to the chemical 
examination described in page 9; and, since the animal matter 
was, as we have shown, burned out, the residuum, which retained 
the hexagonal figure, was lime. 

Fearing that with the blowpipe and spirit lamp we had not 
succeeded in driving off all the carbonic acid gas, we placed two 
portions in a Dutch crucible, and submitted them to the action of 
an anthracite furnace for eight hours; at the end of this time they 
had separated, were of the purest white color, and had lost nearly 
half their weight; i. e. from 16 grains they were reduced to 10; 
one portion of them was put into distilled water, which it took up 
with great rapidity, but without giving off any caloric. After the 
excess of water had evaporated, this portion remained unaltered. 
Another portion was dissolved, with effervescence, in diluted nitric 
acid. 

* The plates belonging to the helmet have a hard, dull white surface, and present no 
appearance of this couche ; but after treating them with acids, it partly separates and curls at the 
edwes so as to be easily detected See fig. 7, C. 



DASYPUS. 13 

The hexagons, even in the dry state of our specimen, are easily 
separated by inserting a moderately sharp instrument into the 
interstices, or natural joints, at the anterior surface of the buckler ; 
but the body of the hexagon cannot be divided without force and 
fracture. They also separate after maceration, or upon burning 
out the animal matter that occupies the interstices; and, in regard 
to those of the helmet, by contraction, on account of becoming 
very dry. 

Each hexagon has on its interior surface a central depression, 
(see fig. 7, A.) which corresponds exactly with the prominence of 
the large ovoid on the opposite face, (see fig. 7, B.) each plate, 
thus forming a low arch, tending considerably to strengthen the 
whole of this part of the armor. 

The skins of animals are, in general, by their great elasticity, 
admirably adapted to not only a free motion of the body, but to its 
gradual enlargement. When the envelope is unyielding, nature 
provides substitutes; one of these is to be found in the univalve 
shells of the mollusca, which gradually increase in length and 
diameter by continual additions at the opening. On the other 
hand, the hard envelopes of the articulated animals are thrown off 
when the parts contained require more room, and coverings better 
adapted to the enlarged dimensions are soon formed; but it is 
obvious that neither of these arrangements would meet the case 
of the Armadillo ; and we find that by the above mentioned 
interstertial position of a flexible cartilaginous or fibro-cartilaginous 
matter, between the natural joints of the unyielding plates of 
carbonate and phosphate of lime in cells of animal matter, the 
armor is provided with the means of slightly extending its 
capacity. And at each angle of the hexagons is found the remains 
of a muscle, which was doubtless subservient to a voluntary 
movement of them. So each plate is capable of being increased 
in size by a gradual and continuous deposite at its sides. When 
these deposites are equal upon all the angles, the plate is enlarged 
without changing its figure ; but any partial interruption of the 
deposite alters the shape of the plate. This accounts for the 
various angles and sizes of the hexagons. 

On the superior face of each hexagon, in the angle of every small 



14 



DASYPUS. 



Fig. 8. 




ovoid, is a foramen for the emission of a hair, or hair-like process; 
but no perforation is seen on the inferior face, except in the centre 
of the hexagon, and, of course, of the depression above described. 
See fig. 7, A. 

The whole of this dermis is covered with 
an epidermis, somewhat resembling scales; 
which, in both outline and figure, corresponds 
with the dermis. See fig. 5. Its color is 
sometimes horny-white, and at others black, 
in which latter case the coloring matter 
appears to be on its inner surface. In the 
dry state of our specimen the scales sepa- 
rate readily from the dermis, adhering slightly 
among themselves. Under the blowpipe they 
are entirely consumed, emitting an odor of 
burnt horn. 

Raspail is of opinion that the epidermis is nothing else than the 
external layer of the cutis, whose cells are emptied, flattened and 
dried up more and more, until, being separated from each other by 
the retraction of their sides, they fall off in the form of furacious 
scales.* If this is true, as a general rule, the Armadillo must form 
an exception, for its dermis and epidermis have different elements. 

As to the internal structure 
of the hexagons, it is simple. 
Figure 9, A., represents a 
portion of the buckler after 
having been treated with mu- 
riatic acid, to render it trans- 
parent, and fig. 9, B., sec- 
tions of the same in the natu- 
ral state. It will be observed that all the other yessels diverge 
from one central one, which has its outlet on the inner face of the 
hexagon, through the foramen before described. Each of the 
diverging vessels terminates in a capsule, out of which issues a 
hair or hair-like process, passing through the foramen, in the 
angles of the small ovoids, as before noticed. 



Fig. 9. 



B 



^7^7" ■■ -_\ ./V/5. 



= 




* New System of Organized Chemistry, p. 288. 



DASYPUS. 



15 



No. 2 



No. 1. 




Fiar. 11. 



Fig-. io. This organization, so appropriate for a part 

which contains fifty per cent, of animal matter, 
would have been unnecessary, had the hexagon 
been composed entirely of crystallized carbonate 
and phosphate of lime. 

Figure 10, No. 1, represents the hexagons and 

parallelograms as connected together ; No. 2 is 

a section of a parallelogram. 

The hexagons of the helmet are much depressed. Fig. 11 

represents one of them. Side No. 1 has three separate 

and two twin follicles. No. 4 has three follicles. 

Opposite to No. 2 are two foramina, which communicate 

with the superior surface. Between Nos. 3 and 4 are 

three small vessels, which do not terminate in follicles. 

The interior vessels are reticulated and anastomose, 

forming two ovoid figures, both of which communicate 

with the superior surface, one by 11 and the other by 12 foramina. 

On the interior surface are foramina, from 5 to 7. See fig. 11. 

Between the hexagons first described and the first band is a 
line of parallelograms of the length of one-half of an inch, and 
breadth of one-fourth of an inch. The following figure, 12, 
represents the interna] structure of one of them, magnified 250 
diameters. 

Ficr. 12. 





The main arterial trunk, A., lies horizontally, communicating 
with the interior of the armor by a foramen situate near the end of 
the parallelogram towards the hexagons. This main trunk divides, 
successively, into five horizontal limbs; four of which, viz. 1, 2, 3, 
and 4, after anastomosing, terminate near the other end of the 



10 DASYPUS. 

parallelogram in as many fusiform follicles, B., from each of which 
emerges, horizontally, a hair, or hair-like process, C. The fifth 
limb, No. 5, inclines abruptly to one side of the parallelogram, and 
after a much shorter course, comparatively, terminates in an 
orbicular capsule, D., from which, through a foramen communi- 
cating with the anterior surface, issues, vertically, another hair, or 
hair-like process, invested with a sheath, e. Besides these five 
limbs, there are branches, 6. Four of these, i. e. two on each side, 
issue out of the main trunk, below its first limb-fork. These sub- 
divide into numerous twigs, which do not anastomose. From limb 
No. 4, about half way beyond its fork, is another and the largest 
branch of all, 7. This anastomoses with the limb, and divides into 
numerous twigs, but does not terminate in either a follicle or cap- 
sule. The limb on the opposite side, No. 1, above its fork, has 
four branches, 8, which do not anastomose or terminate in either 
follicle or capsule, but divides into numerous twigs. Between 
limbs Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, are three interfolical vessels, 9. These 
anastomose with the follicles, and open out at the end of the paral- 
lelogram. They are probably sebaceous or perspiratory organs. 

Some of the anastomosing vessels empty into culs de sac, o, 
approaching, in dimensions, almost to that of the main trunk. 
These are generally situated at, or near, the root of a follicle, and 
may be reservoirs. 

Each of the above vessels may be, and probably are, accompa- 
nied by an artery and a vein ; for the animal possesses the power 
of repairing and reproducing injured or lost plates ; as is proved 
by a specimen of the Apara we have examined, that bears the 
marks of the operation having been performed. 

Vessels of a still more complicated character are presented in 
the parallelograms of the bands. Four of these are represented 
by fig. 13. A. is the superior, and B. the inferior surface. 

They are in length one inch and three-tenths, (of which five- 
tenths pass under the buckler.) in breadth six-tenths, and in 
thickness, where uncovered, one-twentieth ; and where covered 
with the buckler, one-tenth of an inch. Each band is separated 
from the one adjoining by a white cartilaginous or fibro-cartilaginous 
substance, similar to that which separates the hexagons, before 



DAS V PUS. 



17 



Ficr. 13. 




described; and they are provided with muscles similar to those 
of the hexagons. The uncovered portion of each parallelogram is 
divided by seams into two large and two small acute angled 
triangles, truncated at the apex. In these seams are foramina, 
in number from six to eight ; they pass between the partition of 
the epidermis, and are severally provided with vertical hairs, or 
hair-like processes. On the interior face of each parallelogram, 
rig. 13, B., ma} r be seen two foramina, one larger than the other. 
The largest is the outlet of a main horizontal, arterial trunk, 
imbedded in this portion of the parallelogram; which trunk, after 
running horizontally a short distance, divides successively into 
four branches. These branches, after anastomosing, terminate 
respectively into as many fusiform follicles, out of each of which 
issues, horizontally, a hair, or hair-like process. 

The trunk gives off lateral branches also, which terminate 
severally in orbicular capsules, from two to four in number, and 
corresponding with as many vertical hairs, or hair-like processes. 

The smaller foramen is the centre outlet of another and smaller 
trunk, which immediately throws off limbs. These terminate 
respectively in orbicular capsules, corresponding with the four 
remaining vertical hairs, or hair-like processes. These limbs and 
ca/psules nearly surround the larger foramen, forming, together, 
an oval figure. All the above mentioned branches and limbs are 
provided with small twigs, which anastomose. 

This bandular dermis, (if so it may be called,) where uncovered 
by the buckler, is surmounted by a horny epidermis, corresponding 
with it in shape ; and, in the dry state of our specimen, separating 
from it readily, like that of the buckler, E. fig. 14; but the part 




18 



DASYPUS. 




covered by the buckler is invested with, several couches of muscle, 
I). figr. 15. The interior of this latter portion of the dermis, tig. 

Fig. 15. 




Fig. 16. 







A is tilled with large, circular, oval, and ovoidal cells, formed 
by the circumvolutions of a horny.* intervening 
tissue These cells communicate freelv with each 
other, and occasionally with the exterior, bv foramina. 
Upon this portion of the parallelograms there are no 
hairs. 

Fig. 13. C. shows a vertical section of the upper 
end of three of these bands, and the muscular 
arrangement of that part of the armor may be there 
examined. 1. End of the bands, respectively. 

2. The cartilaginous substance, and a muscle at each intersection. 

3. The foramina of the muscles. 

How are these plates formed I Are the cells constructed 
first, or are the animal and calcareous matters simultaneously 
deposited I To answer these questions with certainty, would 
require examinations into the fatal condition. These we have not 
had it in our power to make. The animal whose armor came par- 
ticidarly under our notice, was, as we have before stated, a young 
one; along the margin of his upper jaw. from the point of the 
muzzle, towards the ear, is a row of plates exhibiting a gradual 
developement in size and organization, from the soft swelling, 



* CeD walls are always proteine. 



DASYPUS. 10 

resembling a portion of glue, to the hard, horny, and calcareous 
hexagon. These we have made the subjects of minute microscopic 
examination; but nothing important upon this point has been 
elicited. 

What is the function of the hair or hair-like processes which 
issue out of the hexagons and parallelograms? That they are 
not intended to keep the animal warm, appears from the smallness 
of their numbers; and from their intimate connection with the 
internal structure, it is probable that they are organs of secretion 
or of perspiration. 

What is the function of the hairs of the abdomen ? We examined 
some of them, taken from the Armadillo, which has a long 
tuberculous tail, the Tatou Poyou, or main jaune of Azara. They 
were lenticular, straight, flexible and elastic, — in length about 
three inches. Follicle generally penniform, sometimes terminating 
tuberously, at others in a sheath wmich invests the hair for the 
zVth of an inch; anterior termination generally rounded and blunt, 
and occasionally cleaved. Color principally cinerous; the follicle 
of a clearer white. To the touch smooth, when passed through 
the fingers in either direction. We placed transverse sections 
under the microscope, but the results were not satisfactory; they 
appeared like homogeneous discs of a horny white color, and no 
organization could be detected. We then divided one of them 
longitudinally, and under the microscope could discern two distinct 
portions, viz: a comparatively thick outward covering or cuticle, 
of a yellowish horny color, and an interior bundle of very minute 
fibres, of a wmiter horn color. These fibres we were able to 
separate. The hair-like processes of the plates, on the contrary, 
exhibited under the microscope, when similarly divided, but one 
appearance, viz., a homogeneous opaque mass, of a white horny 
color ; no fibres were to be seen with the highest power we used. 

We also treated both these hairs or hair-like processes with 
diluted nitric acid, with different results; those from the abdomen 
turned straw-yellow, and became semi-transparent, while those of 
the plates retained their original color and opacity. 

From the above and other experiments, which it were tedious 
to enumerate, we came to the conclusion that the hairs of the- 






20 DASYPUS. 

abdomen might be prolongations of nervous fibres. To an animal 
such as the Armadillo, possessing very little means of exercising 
the sense of feeling, owing to its peculiar covering, such a 
tactual apparatus might be of great advantage in traversing its 
subterranean retreats. We made some comparative examinations 
of these hairs, and the whiskers of some of the carnivora, the 
results of w^hich, however, we will reserve until we come to 
describe these latter appendages. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The recent brilliant discoveries made in Physiology and Animal and Vegetable 
Anatomy, with the Microscope and chemical examinations, which owe the principal 
part of their success to its agency, have produced astonishment in the unskilful, 
and admiration in the scientific world. To enlarge the boundaries of this know- 
ledge we have undertaken this work, in which we propose to devote these 
examinations to hairs, wools, furs, &c. The reader may, perhaps, be inclined to 
imagine that these tegumentary appendages have already undergone severe scrutiny, 
and that their organic structure has been completely displayed ; but we assure 
him that much remains yet to be developed. Having discovered that a great deal 
that has been published is incorrect, we have commenced our labours with the 
firm determination to take nothing for granted, but to examine each hair, and to 
put down nothing of which we are not morally certain. We flatter ourselves that 
an investigation, thus conducted, will not be devoid of usefulness. To the scientific 
natural historian we offer no apology for entering upon his arena, determined, if 
possible, to make ourselves welcome guests. To the medical practitioner and 
student we would remark, that many are the diseases of the hair, some of which 
can be better understood by an acquaintance with its structure ; that almost 
innumerable are the diseases of the skin ; and that this organ and its piliferous 
appendages are so intimately connected, that the former cannot be completely 
understood without some information in regard to the latter. But this is not all ; 
hair, wool and fur are objects of great utility in manufactures and the arts, and 
their study cannot, therefore, fail to excite general interest, especially in this 
country, where the history of every thing that can increase the wealth of the nation, 
or add to the comfort, or even to the luxury, of the people, is a legitimate object 
of pursuit. What discoveries we may be happy enough to make in the growth of 
wool, or the manufacture of fur, time alone can determine. 

In a path so little trodden, it is to be expected that we should occasionally 
make mis-steps; but we trust that all such will be attributed to inadvertence, and 
we pledge ourselves to be ever ready to retrace them. 

We propose to publish in Numbers — each one to contain about as much matter 
as the present — and we respectfully request our friends, and the friends of science, 
to aid us in obtaining subscribers — transmitting the lists with as little delay as 
practicable. The price of the numbers will be 62J cents each, payable upon 
delivery. 

We also solicit specimens of human hair — if ancient, from mummies ; if recent, 
from foreigners, or our own Indians, either pure, or crossed by whites or negroes ; 
hairs that have been produced in unusual places, or have been developed under 
peculiar circumstances ; hairs of Albinos, idiots, lunatics, foetal monsters, or of 
persons laboring under diseases of the hair or diseases of the skin likely to affect 
the hair. Bristles hair, fur or wool of superior quality, although grown upon 
ordinary animals, or the covering of any extraordinary mammal, hybrid, or cross 
breed, whether wild or domesticated. Hairs of amphibious mammalia, &c. &c. 
will be acceptable. 

Each specimen should be accompanied with the particulars that render it 
curious. Wherever practicable, the follicle or root should be obtained. 

W T e cannot close this brief announcement without returning thanks to numerous 
friends who have already obligingly furnished us with specimens for examination. 

P. A. BROWNE, 
M. W. DICKESON. 

The Cuts are by Mr. Thomas I. Keily, from Drawings of Dr. Dickeson. 



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